In forming luminaire reflectors, there are several limitations. First, lighting designers prefer a reflector to approximate a desired curvature to the extent possible. In order to form such curvature in typical press brake manufacturing methods, the press brake must be utilized to form each bend in a separate step or “hit” process. Therefore where additional bends are desired to more closely approximate a curve, the manufacturing process becomes more lengthy and expensive.
Moreover, with press brake reflector forming procedures, the formation process may only be accurate to the nearest half degree. In applications where high accuracy is required, a higher degree of accuracy through less tolerance in manufacturing maybe required to produce a luminaire which performs in an acceptable manner.
Current luminaire reflectors utilize segments which are bent in two dimensions. Upon forming these in the press brake, as previously described, the reflectors are typically stacked in until an entire batch of reflectors is formed. As a result of stacking, the lowermost reflectors in the stack carry large loads which often bend these lower reflectors changing them from the “formed” configuration. It would be desirable if the reflectors were stronger without changing material or the desirable optical performance of the reflector.
Given the foregoing deficiencies, it would be desirable to form a luminaire reflector which is bent three dimensionally in a single action and overcomes the above and other deficiencies.